


Spring follows winter

by sear



Category: Maleficent (2014)
Genre: Gen, Hope, Redemption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-24
Updated: 2014-07-24
Packaged: 2018-02-10 06:06:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2013915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sear/pseuds/sear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maleficent wants to be happy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Spring follows winter

Maleficent wants to feel love again. It is a relief to love anew and to name it so. It is a relief to let spring follow winter and to open her eyes and open her heart to those around her.

For years she has watched Aurora and called it watching her vengeance unfold. And Diaval, her wings, have borne her coldness and her demands. The very Moors that were her first delight, full of wonder and friends, has bowed before her black spirit. She has been winter’s chill and winter’s cruelty, the bleakness of the season when the sun doesn’t love the earth. She has been barren as salted and burned fields. She has been joyless. No more.

No more. Maleficent wants to be happy. She will kiss her almost-daughter’s forehead every day and watch her grow, not from the shadows, but from beside her, from sunlight. She will fly with Diaval and set him free. She will live in the Moors, not aloof but part of them. She is still their protector, but now she has Aurora at her side.

Maleficent wants to be free. She wants to someday fly over the Kingdom without fear of iron-tipped arrows. She wants to bestow gifts free of ill-will. She wants walk among her people again and be welcome without wary sidelong glances. Diaval has reported that in the hushed whispers of humans ‘Maleficent’ has come to mean ‘evil’. She will take her name back.

Maleficent wants the future, she wants to look forward and see that it is bright. Folding the wall of thorns back into the earth is easy; it takes a mere three days to dismantle that defense. The coronation is a good second step towards peace. She is so proud of Aurora, who is indeed full of grace and beauty, beloved by all, and kind. Aurora is kind. For Maleficent the coronation is also more than that, it is victory. In crowning Stephen’s daughter, who loves her and whom she loves, she has won. She has defeated Stephen, and more than that, she has conquered his shade.

Yes, Aurora is kind. Maleficent wants to return that kindness. She wants to laugh with her and show her the rest of the Moors. She has lifted the spell of winter and gloom and the seasons are mending themselves. This Aurora has not seen and it will be a joy to show her the secrets and charms of each season. It feels right. She looks forward to spring, summer, bountiful autumn followed by winter that will be respite instead of punishment.

Diaval is kind, too, but his is a kindness hidden by snark and the pretence of service. For years and years, seventeen years more precisely, he was her wings. Such faith demands reward. Maybe Diaval wants freedom, too. She will have to ask. But first she wants to explore the boundless sky. Flying with Diaval is delightful, as is mere conversation now that she can smile with her heart instead of just baring her teeth.

Maleficent wants to be happy. She will be happy.


End file.
